Dear Thyroid Folks,
I noticed it's been almost two years since I posted
the Thyroid Welcome message, so I probably need
to. <sigh>
Although there may be a perception that the rules
have changed - I believe that the original Thyroid
Welcome rules are very much the same as our
current rules, although the Welcome message has
been re-written to clarify some matters over the five
and a half years we've been in daily operation.
Likewise, I'd like to point out that the rules have
not changed at all in over two years - perhaps because
nobody has written a single message asking for a rule
change during that period. If you wish to comment or
request a change, please review the current Welcome
message and propose changes by writing directly to
me at Ballew Kinnaman <[log in to unmask]>.
As always, I wish you well.
Pax,
Ballew Kinnaman <[log in to unmask]> 206/463-2322
Discussion list owner: Allergy, Arthritis, Rubber, Thyroid
Thyroid
Discussion Group http://www.Emissary.Net/thyroid/index.html
=== ===
Subject: SAVE and PRINT - Vital guidelines for THYROID
W E L C O M E !
Guide For Membership In The Thyroid Discussion Group
Please read this entire message *BEFORE* you send
a message to the Thyroid discussion group.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Last Updated: 18 August 2000
To get a new copy of this message, send e-mail that says
get Thyroid Welcome
to the sleepless, automated administrative robot at
[log in to unmask]
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Welcome Contents:
1. Please Keep On Topic
2. This Discussion is NOT Medical Advice
3. Be Brief and Use a Descriptive Subject: Line
4. Avoid Meta Comments - Use Private E-mail
5. Don't Post On/Off Requests to the Whole List
6. Please Be Respectful and Tolerant
7. Commercial Postings are Tightly Controlled
8. Fraudulent, Deceptive, Illegal and/or Disruptive Messages Prohibited
9. Privacy Notice: Your Privacy Is Lost When You Post a Message
10. My Decision Is Final
11. Copyrights
12. How to Search the Thyroid Archives
13. Short Instructions on LISTSERV SET Options
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Guide For Membership In The Thyroid Discussion Group
Commercial Use
The Thyroid discussion mailing list is an open, unmoderated,
free LISTSERV discussion list. The Thyroid mailing list is
seeking additional sponsors, and will accept pre-approved
commercial announcements strictly related to thyroid
conditions and diseases. All commercial announcements must
be screened, approved in advance, and actually posted by the
list owner at <[log in to unmask]>.
When you send a message to the Thyroid discussion group,
please disclaim all commercial relationship to products and
services discussed on-list. Commercial use of the names and
e-mail addresses gathered from the Thyroid discussion is
strictly prohibited.
World Wide Web users please visit the Thyroid mailing list
home page at:
http://www.Emissary.Net/thyroid
Purpose of Thyroid Discussion:
1. Please Keep On Topic
Our topic is thyroid conditions and diseases of all
types - how they influence our health and lifestyles,
treatments for thyroid conditions from the consumer
perspective and experience, thyroid self-care, support
systems, and basic facts about these topics. Often the
discussion touches on related conditions and complications
such as Basedow's disease, Flajani's disease, goiter, Grave's
disease, Hashimoto's disease, hypothyroid, hyperthyroid,
myxedema, Parry's disease, struma, thyroiditis, thyroid
nodules, Wilson's syndrome, etc. These associated topics
are fair game, especially as they relate to people dealing
with thyroid conditions in their everyday lives. Family and
friends of those with thyroid disease/conditions are also
welcome.
E-mail Message Formatting
Thyroid accepts messages in PLAIN TEXT (ASCII). Your
e-mail software may default to some other form of formatting.
OTHER FORMATS {HTML, multipart alternative MIME, etc.} are
NOT allowed to post on Thyroid, so that everyone will be able
to read your messages.
To send your messages in plain text may require that you adjust
the "Preferences" or "Options" in your e-mail software. After
sending test messages to your own e-mail address, you may also
send a test message to <[log in to unmask]>. I will reply
that your message appears to be okay, or not.
Surveys
Questionnaires and surveys MAY NOT be posted by anyone
other than the Thyroid mailing list owner. Surveys and
questionnaires directed to the Thyroid membership must be
pre-approved and posted only by the mailing list owner at
<[log in to unmask]>.
New Topics
You may always introduce new thyroid-related discussion
topics. If the thyroid-related topic you want to hear about is
not currently being discussed on the list -- please bring your
topic up in a question or statement to the group!
Off-List Reply Requests Prohibited
Please do not request private, OFF-LIST replies. Open
group discussion is the primary purpose of Thyroid. You may
request a Cc: copy be sent directly to you. Only ON-LIST
discussions are recorded for the benefit of the whole Thyroid
community in the Thyroid Archives. Thyroid messages should
never divert discussion away from the ON-LIST group.
Off-Topic Messages
If someone else starts a discussion or asks an
interesting question that is *not* about thyroid conditions,
please do NOT reply on the list. No matter how much you want
to respond on the list, please remember that all non-thyroid
discussions are to occur in private e-mail. This mailing list
is about thyroid disease/conditions only, please.
Please do not send personal notes to the Thyroid list
unless they are about thyroid and might contribute to the
discussion. Posters in the "Hi Joe, how was your weekend?"
vein will be reminded that Thyroid is only about thyroid
conditions.
Please don't distract other subscribers and waste network
bandwidth by posting non-Thyroid chatter to the list. Please
use private, personal e-mail instead.
Anonymity
If you wish to remain anonymous, or if you are unsure
about whether the topic is thyroid-related, please send your
message to me at <[log in to unmask]>. You MUST be
clear that your message is intended for the Thyroid mailing list,
rather than personal mail to me alone. If I understand that you
intend the message for distribution, I can distribute the message to the
Thyroid
mailing list -- your message will no longer appear to come from
you, so you should always supply a suitable "nom de plume" or
pseudonym for your 'anonymous' or Jane Doe self.
You Must Tame Your Own E-mail Software
You must learn the THREE very different e-mail addresses
for every Internet e-mail discussion. You must learn to use
each of the three (3) addresses for its own purpose, and NOT
for any other purpose.
Address #1 For Group Discussion:
<[log in to unmask]>
Address #2 For Clerical Commands:
<[log in to unmask]>
Address #3 for Human Help With The LISTSERV Robot:
<Any One Active Member of Thyroid>
or
<[log in to unmask]>
Good citizenship on Thyroid requires that YOU learn to keep
these three e-mail addresses distinct and separate, please.
Please do not send letters including administrative comments
to Address #1 For Group Discussion. Please do not mix the
purposes of these e-mail addresses. The list human cannot
"edit out" your misdirected comments, so your message will
become a burden to return to you for editing and corrected
addressing.
Unsubscribing
If you wish to leave this Thyroid discussion at any time,
24 hours a day, 365 days per year, it is YOUR responsibility
alone to send this message to the clercial robot:
signoff Thyroid
Or, to stop all Thyroid messages for your vacation, tell our
finicky robot:
set Thyroid NOMAIL
Other options to control the clerical LISTSERV robot are
summarized at the bottom of THIS message.
2. This Discussion Is NOT Medical Advice
The Thyroid discussion is not a source or kind of
personal medical advice. This electronic LISTSERV discussion
cannot substitute for proper health care or timely consultation
with your health care providers. I hope that the discussion
will help you be more informed about Thyroid conditions and
help inform your health care choices. The Thyroid discussion
is only intended for informational purposes and should not be
construed as medical advice or medical instruction, because it
is *not* medical advice or medical instruction.
This electronic, textual discussion cannot diagnose or
treat an illness or condition, and is not intended to provide
personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained
directly from your health care provider. When you need personal
medical advice and/or treatment of a problem or condition or for any
other medical purpose, please consult with or visit a health
care provider of your choice without delay.
Sometimes Thyroid subscribers write their posts in a
medical "sounding" way. Please do not be confused. You are
not receiving personal medical advice from this LISTSERV
mailing list, regardless of the apparent credentials of the
members of the mailing list. What you can expect to find is a
wide-ranging, mostly non-technical discussion of all aspects of
Thyroid, with human warmth and the voice of human experience
thrown in for good measure.
If you use any information gained from the Thyroid
mailing list, you use it only at your own risk. The Thyroid
list is offered "as is" with no warranty of any kind. The
LISTSERV owner specifically denies any responsibility for the
accuracy, quality, or applicability for any particular purpose
of any and all information obtained through the Thyroid mailing
list. Use at your own risk, and only after appropriate
consultation with your health care provider, please.
3. Be Brief and Use a Descriptive Subject: Line
To participate in Thyroid, you must learn to <SNIP>. YOU
are responsible to test and learn how to create e-mail messages
that include only a small snippet of the previous message. Your
e-mail software may require you to use the <Delete> or
<Backspace> key, or to Copy and Paste. Ask for help and I'll
try <[log in to unmask]>.
Please NEVER include the entire previous message you are
replying to. Include NO MORE than 1% to 5% of the old message
we've already seen. Do not send a quote of the previous Thyroid
discussion (old information) with a comment (new information)
that is smaller than the quote. New good; old bad. Please add
more to the discussion than you are repeating, or repeat less.
Try to keep exceptionally long or frequent posting to a
minimum. Consider whether your message might be better sent
privately. Please read all the incoming mail from the list
before posting - someone else may have already sent a message
just like yours. "Me too" may add little to the discussion.
Please use a Subject: line that is very clear.
Add your name and a return address to the >body< of
every message. Signatures should be only 4 lines or less,
longer signatures fill up the digest unnecessarily and cost
some members extra. Many people, especially overseas, pay for
their Internet access by the line or by the byte.
Daily Digest Is Available
You can expect to receive 20 or more messages per
day from this mailing list. At the end of this message there
is information about how to receive only one Digest (or Index)
daily.
Do NOT use
Unexplained Abbreviations
Unexplained Acronyms
Telegraph Style
Please think of Thyroid as a conversation among friends. When
you write a message to us, remember that we have many different
backgrounds and many different languages. Thyroid has several
hundred members, in over 25 countries, so that familiar jargon
from North America may be unfamiliar to our foreign members.
Please avoid all unexplained abbreviations and all unexplained
acronyms. If you must use an abbreviation or an acronym, >you<
are responsible to completely explain the term in the *same*
message.
USE NOT ALL CAPS. STOP. NO TELEGRAPH STYLE. STOP.
Speak in a normal voice, with full sentences, as if to a group of
friends and neighbors in a public meeting.
4. Avoid Meta Comments - Use Private E-mail
Meta comments are thoughts about the Thyroid discussion
group or the people in it, rather than about thyroid conditions.
Posts such as: "I think this mailing list is...." "Why do people
on this list...." "This mailing list is too X" "this mailing list
is not X enough" are off limits here. Please don't discuss the
discussion - do discuss thyroid conditions!
If you have questions or suggestions about the Thyroid
list itself, please share them with the list owner at
<[log in to unmask]>, but do not post them to the
entire list. The topic of this discussion is thyroid conditions!
But the owner is interested in anything that can improve the list
and discussion. Please do not comment (good or bad) to the list
about the Thyroid list owner or the list owner's actions.
These are topics for private e-mail.
The only topic allowed for general discussion is thyroid
conditions. Private e-mail is the place for all non-thyroid
messages, please.
5. Don't Post On/Off Requests to the Whole List
Posting "unsuscibe me" to the whole list
<[log in to unmask]> will NOT get you off the list
because that function is automated. If you want off, send your
request to the robot at <[log in to unmask]>. Use
the following command:
unsubscribe Thyroid
All clerical, subscription-related issues should be
handled at the <[log in to unmask]> address, NOT the
address for the people who read the Thyroid list
NOT NOT NOT No <[log in to unmask]> No NOT NOT NOT
6. Please Be Respectful and Tolerant
We're a diverse, worldwide group of people of several hundred
people. Our emphasis is on sharing information. Flaming and
personal insults (including name calling, rude comments and
other bad manners) are out of place here. Repeat offenders
(and/or bozos) will be banned.
The Thyroid discussion mailing list is an open forum for
ideas about thyroid conditions and diseases. I expect ideas
about thyroid to occasionally cause controversy and evoke
emotions among the Thyroid members. Please feel free to
vigorously defend or attack ideas on this mailing list. BUT,
you may *not* make personal attacks on other living beings (or
groups of living beings) on the Thyroid list. Whether a person
is a member of the discussion or not, all human beings should
be treated with respect and tolerance on the Thyroid discussion
list.
If you have a dispute with any list member, please try to
solve it privately, off-list. If one side is disrespectful or
intolerant, this is NOT an acceptable excuse to return that
disrespect or intolerance.
7. Commercial Messages are Tightly Controlled
****************************************************************
Definition: A commercial message is one made by a person
or on behalf of a person or organization selling or profiting or
benefiting from sales of a product or service and containing
information about that product or service.
****************************************************************
As a Thyroid list member you have two responsibilities
about commercial messages. First, you should ALWAYS disclaim
all messages "promoting" any thyroid-related product of service,
saying "I have no interest in X (product or service) other than
being a consumer of X."
Secondly, if you receive ANY e-mail not directly from the
Thyroid mailing list which you think might be as a result of
your being a member of Thyroid, you should forward it (whole -
including all address headers) to me at
<[log in to unmask]>.
To promote fairness, people with commercial interests in
thyroid-related products and services also may not speak about
competitor products or services unless it is in a message
clearly identified as an advertisement.
I intend to experiment with ways to allow some *relevant*
advertising, while demanding that it not overpower or distract
the discussion that is the purpose of the list. I intend to
solicit sponsors for the list, and hope to find ways that the
list can pay its own way, so to speak.
Commercial messages may not be e-mailed directly to the
group or to individual Thyroid members. Only the Thyroid mailing
list "owner" may post commercial messages. Nobody else is
authorized to send advertisements except the Thyroid list owner.
Every commercial posting must be paid for in advance and
preapproved by the list owner. Send your request to
<[log in to unmask]> for approval. [This rule does not
apply to unaffiliated, unrelated consumers making unsolicited,
unrecompensed recommendations or reviews of products and/or
services.]
ALL postings must have specific relevance to the Thyroid
discussion group. Announcements of seminars and educational
events where products (vitamins, etc.) are sold also require
preapproval. Again, this rule does not apply to unaffiliated,
unrelated consumers making unsolicited, unrecompensed
recommendations or reviews of products and/or services.
Postings in violation of this policy will be removed from
the Thyroid Archives and warned only once, if at all.
Until further notice commercial posts will be limited to
Tuesday mornings, one Tuesday a month, unless the post has a
time urgency that would make it stale by the next monthly
posting.
8. Fraudulent, Deceptive, Illegal, Disruptive Messages Prohibited
Forging messages or otherwise creating a deception in
e-mail messages or addresses is an offense to the community and
is not tolerated. Identity hacking or other deception of any
kind is not allowed.
The Thyroid mailing list forbids identity deception of
any kind, but makes no assurances that a particular message was
sent by the person it appears to be from. I cannot verify the
identity or credentials of Thyroid members. Therefore I remind
you that before trying out any ideas discussed here you should
seek advice and confirmation from qualified, licensed health
care providers whose identities and credentials you know and
trust.
Fraudulent and illegal activities are forbidden from the
Thyroid mailing list. No disruption, or attempted disruption
of the Thyroid discussion is permitted.
9. Privacy Notice: Your Privacy Is Lost When You Post a Message
Our member list is kept 100% confidential. 100%
The Thyroid membership database is NEVER sold, rented,
lent, exchanged, or used for anything other than official
Thyroid activity. Emissary.Net may choose to send mailings to
Thyroid members of information from other groups -- all mailings
will always originate with Emissary.Net alone.
Again, I NEVER release, sell, or rent the names and e-mail
addresses of the Thyroid membership. If I am presented with a
valid court order I will release them only under protest. I
believe the other technical people who can access the list to
be scrupulous and ethical, and I believe they will not divulge
the addresses without being similarly forced.
However, when *you* post a message to the Thyroid
discussion, you breech your privacy because all the Thyroid
members can read your return address. Because the Thyroid
mailing list is open to anyone, the Thyroid archives can be
searched by anyone (even non-members). Archive searches can
reveal all the names and e-mail addresses of all the people
who *ever* posted a message to Thyroid.
Open participation is desirable, but lurking is also
encouraged. If you wish to retain your privacy, you must lurk.
If you EVER receive e-mail sales soliciations SPAM that
you think *might* have something to do with your membership in
Thyroid, please send me <[log in to unmask]> the message (with
all address headers) immediately.
10. My Decision Is Final
This LISTSERV discussion is a free service to the
Internet community. The responsibility to keep it going on a
day-to-day basis falls on the "owner" of the list. The owner,
therefore, is the final arbiter of all questions and disputes,
and ultimately judges all questions of list access, operation,
membership and content. Questions and comments about this
policy can, of course, be directed to
<[log in to unmask]>.
11. Copyrights
Electronic mail has created new and wonderful ways to
share information widely with others, but copyright
restrictions still apply to how we may distribute the writings
of other people. Under current law in the USA, every word is
copyrighted as soon as it is written. So in other words, you
need not include the word or symbol for "copyright" in a
message for the message to have your copyright. Consequently,
you and I must ask another person's permission to use their
writings, on the Internet or otherwise, regardless of whether
the writings are marked as "copyrighted."
The ground rules of the Thyroid mailing list allow brief
quotations of other people's messages to the Thyroid mailing
list within the context, and TO retain the context of the
Thyroid discussion. It is assumed that everyone, every Thyroid
member, is asynchronously discussing Thyroid disease together
in various threads, and therefore brief quotes serve to focus
on the topical subject of each message and direct the flow of
the discussion.
So, using brief snips of another person's or persons'
contemporaneous writing from the Thyroid discussion list to
further discuss ongoing topics on Thyroid is therefore at least
tacitly acceptable, with or without the author's explicit
permission. However, this rule is *very* limited in its
application, and this rule does not free you to break copyright
laws.
Extensive, substantial, or out-of-context quotes of other
people's writing requires the author's permission, because the
author owns and legally controls the copyright to their own
words. This is especially true when material is cross-posted
to another electronic mailing list, where the rules and context
may be utterly different from the Thyroid mailing list.
If you want to forward a Thyroid message which includes a
quote, you need both the author's permission and the permission
of the person who was quoted.
E-mail just makes copyright violation easy -- not right,
not polite, and definitely not legal.
12. How to Search the Thyroid Archives
One important feature of our LISTSERV software is
the ability to maintain archives of mailing list messages.
Because of this, we on the Thyroid mailing list are creating
an historical base of information that is beneficial to ourselves
and others. Anyone can search the Thyroid Archives.
The Archives contain a copy of every message posted to the
Thyroid mailing list. There are two ways to approach searching
these messages.
A. World Wide Web Access
B. E-mail Access at [log in to unmask]
12.A. World Wide Web Access
If you have access to the World Wide Web, point your
browser to
http://www.Emissary.Net/thyroid
and select the option
Keyword Search the Thyroid Archives
You'll fill in a template to define your search.
Generally, make your first search broad, with only one ot two
words - don't get too specific, or you'll miss out on
relevant messages which don't meet your strict criteria.
12.B. E-mail Access at [log in to unmask]
If you don't have access to the World Wide Web, you still
can search the Thyroid Archives by e-mail. There is a simple
example below. for more information, specific instructions and
examples to help you when using the search tool, send e-mail to
LISTSERV@maelstrom stjohns.edu
with the message
get Thyroid search
Example: The following search would match messages that
contained the keywords 'Graves' or 'Hashimoto' and 'synthroid.'
Search Example:
/* - - - - - - - - clip and save this example - - - - - - */
search graves or hashimoto and synthroid in Thyroid
/* - - - - - - - - clip and save this example - - - - - - */
An e-mail message, containing an index of the first 100 matching
messages, will be compiled from the Thyroid Archives by the
kindly LISTSERV robot and e-mailed to you.
Following the index, there is a line that says
To order a copy of the Archive messages, send the following
command:
GETPOST THYROID ### ### ### ### ###, etc.
This command should be returned to the clerical robot at
[log in to unmask]
Before returning the entire GETPOST request, you might want to
review the context information that LISTSERV has provided, to
narrow your search. GETPOST results can be a very large message.
13. Short instructions on LISTSERV SET options
All of these "command" messages should be sent to the
helpful but ignorant LISTSERV clerical robot at:
[log in to unmask] <<NOT to the Thyroid address>>
What you want to have happen is followed by the message to send.
To Subscribe
SUB Thyroid YourFirstname Lastname
To Unsubscribe
SIGNOFF Thyroid
To Stop List Mail Temporarily
SET Thyroid NOMAIL
To Restart Mail After Vacation
SET Thyroid MAIL
To Receive Only One Mailing Each Day
Which Contains 24 Hours of Messages
SET Thyroid DIGEST
To Receive Only One Mailing Each Day
Which Contains Only the Subject:
Line and Sender: for Each Message
SET Thyroid INDEX
To See Your Distribution Options
QUERY Thyroid
To Receive a Copy of Your Own Messages
SET Thyroid REPRO
To Get a Listing of LISTSERV Commands
HELP
To Get the Thyroid Welcome Guidelines (this message)
GET Thyroid Welcome
All of these "command" messages should be sent to the
sleepless LISTSERV clerical robot at:
[log in to unmask]
There is also a World Wide Web un/subscription page
for the Thyroid mailing list. The URL is
http://www.Emissary.Net/thyroid
Web users can read the weekly Thyroid logs and set all
their distribution options, subscribe, unsubscribe, and read
and search the Thyroid Archives from the above Web page.
Try it, you'll like it. 8=]'
Thank you for your interest in the Thyroid discussion list.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Last Updated: 18 August 2000
Copyright (c) 1996-2002, Emissary.Net; all rights reserved.
---end---
_______________________________________________________________
Thyroid Welcome Message (Instructions) Always Available
Anyone can obtain a fresh, new copy of the Thyroid Welcome
message at any time (24/7) by sending an e-mail message
saying only "get Thyroid Welcome" (remove quotes) to our
sleepless robot at <[log in to unmask]>. Its free.
_______________________________________________________________
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